


Unveiled

by xx_Katastrophe



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Agrestes need therapy, Alix Kubdel - Freeform, Angst, F/M, Fuck Emilie Juice (mild), Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Identity Reveal, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Redemption, Gen, Happy Ending, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Identity Reveal, Mentioned Emilie Agreste, Nathalie Sancoeur Redemption, Original Akuma (Miraculous Ladybug), implied Lila Rossi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:49:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29626581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xx_Katastrophe/pseuds/xx_Katastrophe
Summary: Secrets become unveiled, all in due time.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur
Kudos: 45





	Unveiled

_ “Medusa, I am Hawk Moth. People won’t leave you alone after being so exposed… so I’m giving you the ability to turn those pesky onlookers into stone. In exchange for these powers, you need to bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir’s miraculous.”  _ _  
  
_

_ “Medusa, I am Mayura. To aid you, I’m giving you the Hearder. She can help you trap those pesky people, and then trap those pesky kids.”  _

“Don’t worry Hawk Moth, I won’t fail you this time.” Medusa said, with a smug grin on her face- red-brown hair turning into snakes, clothes turning into a toga. In her hand, a crown appears. A clone of herself, dressed like a shepherd appears by her side. “Come with me, Hearder… we’ll go teach those people a lesson!” She shouted, as she and her accomplice set off. 

* * *

On a sunny weekday afternoon, Marinette was sitting on the bench, sketchbook in her lap. For their art club meeting, the club set out to get some inspiration from around Paris, and she chose to sit in the park. Nothing like the sounds of the kids on the carousel, idle chatter and screams of terror as people zipped by to inspire her work... wait, screams of terror and people running? 

From her right, Alix skated right up to her- with safety goggles on her head, covered in spray paint and breathing heavily. “Marinette!”

“What’s going on?” Marinette asked. Alix had grabbed her hand and started dragging her along. 

“There’s… a snake person turning everyone into stone. Her accomplice is mind controlling people and then getting Medusa to turn them to stone… I hope Ladybug and Chat Noir come soon.” 

Hardly able to keep up with Alix on her skates, Marinette panted heavily, “Well.. I’m sure… they’re coming…” 

Alix slowed down, letting go of Marinette’s hand upon realizing she wasn’t able to keep up. “Yeah, I sure hope so… sorry about dragging you so far, by the way.” 

“It’s… okay.” Marinette said. “Go and hide. I’ll be okay, promise.” 

Alix nodded, as she took off again. Marinette’s eyes looked around, before ducking down into an alleyway. She opened her purse up, and Tikki flew out. “We have to go and fix this, before everyone’s a statue… Tikki, spots on!” 

* * *

Hawk Moth watched at the chaos he sowed. “My dear Mayura… it’s perfect. I love the fear and chaos we have sowed...” 

Mayura smiled, as she looked at him. “Yes Hawk Moth, it is lovely… We are reaping its rewards.” She replied, as she casually linked her arm with his. Her other hand rested on his bicep. He smiled fondly at her.

“Yes… soon we will know who those damn kids are and we can finally retire…” He replied. His hand rested on hers. They waited… and watched. Ladybug and Chat Noir were running around, failing miserably in their search. However, it seemed like Medusa had their own agenda… how could she?! Hawk Moth scowled. “What is she doing?! Alright, it looks like we’ll have to take care of this ourselves.” 

She nodded, as she was suddenly swept off by her feet. “You know, I am perfectly capable of walking…” 

“I know, but I worry for you and your condition… is all.” He said. Without arguing further, her arms wrapped around him as they left, to take care of business once and for all. 

Chat Noir swoops in. “Who knew that Greek mythology would ever make a resurgence in our day of age…” He opened. 

Here we go- not even 30 seconds, and that silly kitty had to make a joke already. “Ha ha, very funny. We need to find her before she finds us.” 

“LADYBUG!! WHERE ARE YOU?!” A familiar voice bellowed through the streets. “HERE KITTY KITTY…” There was an ominous, evil cackle.

The heroes looked at each other, with a deep sense of fear. Whenever Hawk Moth decided to show his face, it’s a close call, with each time becoming closer. “Oh no, It’s Hawk Moth!” Chat Noir said. 

“Quickly, let’s go here.” Ladybug remained calm, grabbing her partner’s hand and dragging him into an abandoned building. 

“Lucky charm!” Ladybug tossed her yo-yo into the air. From her yo-yo came a shepherd's crook. As she caught it, she raised a brow. “A crook?” 

Chat Noir grinned, “I guess it’s telling us to go to the country and round up the sheep- to help us with all the baaa-dies.” 

Unamused and with a deadpan expression, Ladybug looked to him and said nothing. She lightly hit his head with her lucky charm. “There’s no time for your sheep jokes, Kitty. Medusa will find us, turn us to stone, and then deliver us to Hawk Moth and it’s game over. We can’t let Paris down.” 

“Right. But what do we do? They’re after us.” 

Thinking quickly, Ladybug looked around. Lying around the floor of the abandoned building was a large spool of wire. She saw Chat’s baton, and then her yoyo. She asked, “How good are your tying skills?” 

“I think they’re pretty good… why do you ask?” 

As she handed him the spool of wire, and her yoyo, she grabbed his baton and extended it. “I have an idea…” 

* * *

Hawk Moth and Mayura roamed the streets of Paris-- which were eerily silent due to the lack of people around. Though some of the expressions on the stone people were mildly amusing. A lot of them were frozen mid scream. That rotten cat and pesky little girl must be hiding from him. Cowards. “You know you won’t win if you just hide from u--” His speech was interrupted when his feet were pulled out from under him. 

“Hawk Moth, what happe--” Mayura couldn’t finish her question, before she was yanked to the ground too. As they sat up, a familiar yoyo was wrapped around their bodies. 

“Nice shot, kitty.” Ladybug said, holding the crook which she had mounted on Chat’s staff. 

Chat Noir began to use the wire to bind the villains together at their torsos. Once he had enough of them tied together, he returned the yoyo back to Ladybug. It was a lot harder to tie the adults up when they were actively resisting, but he tightened the wire around them harder. “Thanks, m’lady.”

The wire was so tight, that it was digging into their skin. Ignoring the complaints, Ladybug smiled. “Follow me.” She ordered. As Chat tried to push the bundled up villains along, they were pushing back twice as hard. 

While tempted to cataclysm them both on the spot, he figured now isn’t the time. “Um… a little help, Ladybug?” 

She turned around, before tossing out her yoyo around the bundle of villains. She pulled while Chat Noir pushed. Together they were at least able to get them into the abandoned building they were hiding in, despite them trying to kick and break their way out of their binds. Once inside, the villains were forced against a support beam, as the heroes bound their feet to the beam. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir stood in front of them. Chat smirked. “Time to take you down…” He held open his hand. “Cataclysm!” 

“Chat Noir, don’t!” Ladybug scolded her partner. Instead, her hands went right towards their villains’ miraculous. With a swift pull, she pulled them free from their persons. They went wide eyed as their costumes began to fade away. Bits of red pants, white shoes, black heels and black business suit began to appear. With a flash of light, the people behind the villains were unveiled- Gabriel Agreste was Hawk Moth. Nathalie Sancoeur was Mayura. 

Ladybug reeled, dropping the miraculous. Her suspicions were correct all along. He lied to her. The thought of telling Adrien that his father is Hawk Moth made her feel ill. She never wanted to have to tell this to the boy she loves. 

Chat Noir froze, brain unable to process what his eyes were seeing. How could they do this to him? In his haste, he touched his cataclysm hand to the wall. It collapsed, and he ran away. “Chat Noir, wait!” Ladybug called for him, but by the time she did, he was long gone. She then turned on her heel to face Gabriel and Nathalie. She took a deep breath to simmer her anger. “I should have known. Care to explain yourself?” 

Nathalie looked down in shame. Gabriel looked ticked. Well, he already had this big secret ripped away from him, he may as well let the other secret out of the bag. “Alright. You may have heard that my wife had vanished. Well, that’s not true.” 

“...So you killed her?” Ladybug assumed. 

Disgusted at her accusations, Gabriel spat, “What? No, why would I do that?” 

She felt bad for jumping the gun. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry. Please, continue… I won’t interrupt.”

His expression softened. “She… My wife got sick using the peacock miraculous. It was broken. She just kept using it until it put her in an endless sleep. I promised her I would bring her back, and I read that the ladybug and black cat miraculous gives you the ultimate power when combined. I wanted to use that power to bring her back to me and my son, is all.” 

“And… I just wanted to help. The peacock miraculous was still broken when I picked it up…” Nathalie paused to cough. “It made me ill. We stole a translated copy of the guardian’s tablet and he fixed it.” 

Now Ladybug was conflicted. He did so many bad things to his son’s friends, their families and strangers, but he was clearly just distraught. “I’m… sorry to hear that, sir. It must have been hard.” 

He concurred. “Yes, and my son… he’s been miserable ever since. I think if she were to come back, he’d be happy again.” 

She was running out of time. She tossed the spotted crook into the air, and the magical swarm of ladybugs erupted. They flew around to undo all damage, and turn the citizens of Paris back to normal. Gabriel and Nathalie, however, still remained bound. “I don’t think so…” 

“Excuse me? What do you know, Miss Ladybug?” He asked her. 

“Adrien has felt even more lonely since his mother ‘left and never came back’. You could fix that…” Ladybug suggested. 

Nathalie nodded. “I’ve tried to tell you this sir, but all you did was push him away.” 

“Wait… Adrien loves me?” Gabriel asked, sounding genuinely in shock that his son loved him. “Emilie’s always told me the reason he got upset when he was younger was because he liked her more.” 

“Liked her more, not didn’t like you at all…” Nathalie sighed. 

“...Still. That stuck, especially when it was a constant reminder.” 

A flash of light distracted them… and Ladybug became Marinette. Gabriel recognized her- the girl who won his hat making competition. “I should have figured you were Ladybug, Miss Dupain-Cheng.” 

Marinette looked thoroughly embarrassed, carefully feeding a tired Tikki a macaron. This looks like the end of Ladybug. “Mister Agreste, Miss Nathalie, please please please don’t tell anyone.” She pleaded with him. She wasn’t ready to give up Ladybug, but since she was the guardian now… she didn’t have to, which comforted her. 

Gabriel looked to Nathalie. She nodded. “We won’t tell anyone your secret identity. So long as you agree not to tell anyone that we were Hawk Moth and Mayura.” 

Marinette smiled. It was a fair trade in her eyes. She wouldn’t feel right turning in a man who was only acting out in pain, and a woman who was just trying to help out a person she cared deeply about. “Okay, you have yourself a deal. But what about Adrien? He… can’t not know about what you just told me.” 

A wave of nausea washed over Gabriel. He already knew this was probably the end of what little bond he and his son had. “...Do we have to?” 

Nathalie and Marinette glared at him. “Yes.” They told him sternly.

“...I need to find Chat Noir first. He seemed super upset... “ Marinette muttered, as she gathered the peacock and butterfly miraculous she had dropped. She tucked them in her purse. 

“You should probably do that. But um… could you maybe untie us first?” Gabriel asked. 

“Oh. Yes, of course.” Marinette went to work on untying all the wire from their bodies. Gabriel and Nathalie took a deep breath upon their freedom. “Maybe you guys should head back to your house. I think this should be done in private…” 

They agreed, as they exited the building. As they left, Marinette opened her purse and Tikki flew out. 

“Wow Marinette… that was a lot…” Tikki said. 

“I know, Tikki… I’m worried about how Adrien’s going to react. He’s going to be so crushed.” 

“That’s an understatement. But Chat Noir also seemed pretty upset… you can focus on telling Adrien later. Finding Chat should be your focus.” 

“You’re right. We need to find him.” Marinette smiled, “Tikki, spots on!” 

* * *

Chat Noir sat alone on a rooftop. He doesn’t know where he is. His eyes were too teary as he hugged his knees to his chest. Ladybug was probably pissed at him for just leaving her alone like that. She probably saw him as a coward. 

“Little Kitty all alone… on the roof…” He sang to himself quietly, voice cracking and shaking as he choked back another sob. 

“Chat Noir!” Ladybug called for him, relieved to have found him. She anchored her yoyo around a vent fan on the rooftop, and swung across to join him. She noticed his distress and she grabbed his hands. “Chat Noir, what’s wrong?” 

“I… I left you alone with the villains. You probably think I’m a coward for leaving you like that…” Chat replied, as he looked away from her. 

“What? Kitty, you’re being ridiculous… I don’t think you’re a coward… I just want to know why you’re so upset.” 

He had to think of a lie. “I… just feel so bad for Gabriel Agreste’s son… He’s going to be,” he bit back a sob, “so devastated.” 

“Oh… It’ll be okay… I’m worried for him too, though… I’m supposed to meet up with him at his house… so that we can discuss that matter in private.” 

“...Actually m’lady… Adrien already knows…” Chat sniffled, finally feeling strong enough to admit this. 

“Oh! Did you already tell him?” Ladybug asked. 

“No…” He inhaled, “He knows because.. Plagg, claws in.” His transformation dropped, and a broken Adrien remained. “I am Adrien Agreste.” 

“Adrien…” Ladybug frowned. “I’m so sorry you had to find out this way…” 

“It’s alright, Ladybug… but I just want to know to know why he was doing this. Before he ends up jailed for life.” 

“Actually Adrien… it’s not that easy. I’m… not going to turn him in.” 

“What? Why not?” Chat Noir asked, confused. “He deserves it.” 

“It’s… not that simple. He’s told me some things… and I think it’s worth that you go and find out from him in person.” 

“...Okay, I’ll listen to him. But only because you want me to. I just have one other question…” 

“Yes?” 

“...Who are you, under the mask? I just really want to know… especially because you now know who Chat Noir is… I understand if you don’t want to reveal yourself yet, though, being the guardian and all.” 

Ladybug did not take this choice lightly, but in the end… revealing her identity would be alright now. She closed her eyes. “Tikki, spots off.” With a quick flash of light, Marinette was revealed. Adrien was in awe, and immediately pulled her into a hug. No wonder she was so special to him. Marinette was his everyday Ladybug, because she had been the real Ladybug this whole time. 

“Marinette,” was all he could muster. She hugged him tightly. 

“Adrien, I’m so sorry for all the times I rejected you. Even if a lot of them were accidental… I’ve always liked you, but I got too nervous when you were around...”

“And I’m sorry for all the times I didn’t notice your feelings… No wonder Nino said I was oblivious…” 

“We can talk about that later, okay? Right now we really should go talk to your father. There’s some things you need to know… and I want him to tell you. Wait. We need to bring you as Chat Noir. They don’t know that you’re him.” 

Adrien nodded. “Right… I guess I can kiss my social life goodbye because I’m so grounded.” 

Marinette held his hand. “Relax, Adrien… it’s going to be okay. I promise you.” 

Together, they transformed, and were ready to close the book for this era of superheroism.

* * *

Gabriel stood in the foyer, pacing back and forth. He couldn’t find Adrien anywhere and was beginning to worry about his safety. Nathalie’s eyes followed his frantic movements. She swallowed dryly and drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair. Soon, she stood up, and caught a grip on Gabriel’s arm. He stopped his frantic pacing and looked at her. Her eyes cooled his nerves, a surge of serotonin surging through him. He took a deep breath, as there was a knock on the front doors. “Enter.” He uttered monosyllabically. 

The front door creaked open, revealing Ladybug and Chat Noir in the doorway. 

“Oh, Ladybug, thank you. Listen, I can’t find my son anywhere… You don’t think he’s been turned to stone and forgotten, do you?”

“My magical Ladybugs took care of everything. He’s alright.” Ladybug assured him. Gabriel shuffled to his office, just steps away from the foyer. Chat closed the front doors, as the four of them entered the closed space. The office door closed with a soft click. 

“Chat Noir has something to say first…” Ladybug started, as she stepped away. She transformed back into Marinette.

He stepped forward, in front of his father and Nathalie. “Plagg, claws in.” Once his transformation had dropped, he opened his eyes and looked at his father. His gaze turned from soft to harsh in just a moment. 

“So my suspicions were dually correct…” Gabriel mustered. An unfamiliar feeling creeped within him. He wanted to run and hide. 

“That’s it? That’s all you have to say?” Adrien asked, his voice increasing in volume. “I can’t believe you! All this time you were Hawk Moth, and you dragged Nathalie in to help you?! What is  _ wrong _ with you?!” 

Nathalie spoke up, “Adrien… I wanted to help him. He didn’t force me…” 

That didn’t matter much. “Did you think that maybe, just maybe, you could have better spent your time doing something else, like, oh I don’t know, spending time with me?!! YOUR SON?!” Adrien’s face was starting to turn red. 

“Adrien I--” Gabriel started, but it seemed like Adrien wasn’t done yet. 

“I HATE YOU!” His words echoed off the walls in the room. Gabriel tensed up. His tension soon melted away, dissolving into a deep sorrow. Emilie was right. Adrien doesn’t like him, and never did like him, and it cut him deeply. Nathalie and Marinette remained silent, knowing it was best for them to talk it out. 

“I know you do. That’s why I wanted the miraculous. So that I could bring her back for you, so that you could be happy again.” Gabriel’s voice became quiet. He was holding back his tears and chewing on his lower lip. 

After taking a few deep breaths, Adrien felt a weight lift from him. Now much calmer, he explained, “That wouldn’t just magically make things better you know… All my life, mom said you were always too busy to spend time with me, and that I should stop bothering you… and it only got worse when Mom went away forever. I get it, it was hard, but you can’t hole yourself up because of that… I needed you, and you were never there for me.” 

“You’re right. I failed you. I lied to you too many times to count. I’m sorry. Adrien. There will never be enough words to describe that.” 

Adrien did not accept or reject the apology, but instead had one question to ask. “Do you know where Mom is?” 

Gabriel wanted to lie again so desperately, but after spilling part of the truth already, he felt so free and light. Why not get rid of all that weight? “I do.” 

“...Where is she, then?” 

“Follow me…” He hesitated. The four of them walked to the platform. Gabriel’s fingers inserted into the painting, and all of them slowly descended down. Adrien was horrified, yet amazed at what laid below the ground floor of his own home. He wasn’t aware anything like this existed. As the platform came to a halt, they stepped off, as Gabriel led the way to the butterfly room. The rows of lights light up, one by one as they proceed down the aisle, single file. Marinette and Adrien were in awe- the graceful creatures flying around them. One of them even landed on Marinette’s head briefly, which made her smile some. They reached the end of the walkway, and Gabriel presented Emilie. Laying in her glass coffin- still, peaceful, and with a gentle smile on her face. 

Adrien placed his hand on the glass. His lower lip trembled as his hand trailed down. She looked so peaceful and not suffering. He remembered she was very sick the last time he saw her. His eyes watered as he hung his head. A tear rolled off his cheek and splashed against the glass. “Mom… I wish I had a chance to say goodbye to you… But I’m glad that you’re not suffering anymore.” He slumped over, crying to himself silently. Marinette silently walked over to him, and hugged him. Gabriel and Nathalie stepped closer, each placing a hand on his back.

“Your mother loved you very much, Adrien. She’d be so proud of who are and what you're becoming.” Gabriel assured his son. “Now, I think you have a right to know about what really happened…” 

It all began years ago. Nathalie, Gabriel and Emilie traveled to Tibet. Emilie had heard of these magical jewels called miraculous from another member of her family, and she wanted them for herself. While there were several locations of interest that were mentioned, Tibet stood out to her, given its size and remote nature. Of course, it didn’t take much convincing for Gabriel to embark on this trip- whatever his wife wants, she gets, or else he would never hear the end of it. Nathalie came too, as she had educated herself quite well since the subject was brought up. The three of them traveled to East Asia and started their quest. Through the mountains under the blazing sun, they searched for days. On the last day of the trip, Nathalie had found them. The peacock and butterfly miraculous was soon theirs. They traveled back to Paris with their treasures in tow. Gabriel wasn’t sure what to do with them, but Emilie knew right away. The first time after using the peacock miraculous, however… something was clearly wrong. She was ill-- coughing, dizziness, and even vomiting and coughing up blood in a few rare instances. Gabriel recognized what was going on, and encouraged her to stop using it. Emilie retorted with how he was just trying to stop her from achieving her dreams and he was holding her back. He tried several different things to try and coax it away from her.. But nothing. She just kept using it, and getting worse. And then, the damage was done. The grimoire listed a cure for a user affected by broken miraculous magic, but Emilie was too far gone. 

Adrien felt better having some closure about what happened to his mother. His tear streaked face slowly peered up at Gabriel. “So… what was her dream? Why did she keep using it?” 

“She never told me… I’m starting to think that it was a cover up for something else…” Gabriel pondered. 

Adrien’s heart only broke further. Not only was his dad a supervillain, his mother was dead, but she was starting to not sound like the sweet, nice person he believed she was. He was starting to see why Marinette didn’t want to put them in jail. “Father… I’m sorry for shouting that I hated you. I don’t hate you.” 

“...It’s alright, Adrien. It’s a lot to process.” Gabriel replied. Nathalie smiled, proud of him for taking a positive step. 

“So, you’re not going to ground me?” 

“No, I will not ground you.” 

“...Will I still be able to go to school?” 

“Yes, you can still go to school.” 

Adrien picked himself up off his mother’s coffin, and threw his arms around Gabriel. Slowly, Gabriel reciprocated the embrace, before Adrien slowly pulled himself away. “Father, I think Mom would be proud of this moment… and she would want us to be happy, even without her. I don’t think she’d want you to be sad. I think she’d want you to move on… find happiness in what you have...” He specifically directed that statement to Nathalie, who blushed faintly at the implications. 

Gabriel didn’t have the heart to tell him that probably wasn’t true. He took his son’s sentiments to heart though, for him. “You’re probably right… I suppose that perhaps we should properly let her rest.” 

Adrien nodded as he looked back at Emilie’s coffin again. “I think she’d like that…” 

Gabriel looked at Nathalie, and Adrien looked at Marinette. They decided to let Emilie rest for now, as they headed back up to the main floor. As the platform stopped in the office, they all stepped off. Adrien and Marinette walked towards the office doors. Gabriel quickly stopped them. “Adrien.” 

“Yes, Father?” 

“...Can you ever forgive me?” 

Adrien paused for a moment. “It’s going to take a while for me to fully trust you… but I think I can start to forgive you.” 

Gabriel smiled, watching Adrien and Marinette leave his office. He turned to Nathalie, and pulled her into a hug. He practically lifted her off the ground as well. She simply just went with it, wrapping her arms around him in return. “I believe that perhaps we should both seek some therapy… though I must say, I feel remarkably lighter.” 

“I’m glad you do. I do as well… perhaps we should look into family therapy for you two, to go together. It would benefit you both.” 

Gabriel nodded, releasing Nathalie from his embrace at once. 

* * *

Marinette and Adrien stuck around in the foyer for just a bit longer. Looking at the time, she decided that she should probably be on her way. Adrien walked her to the door. She looked back at him and stopped. “I told you… everything was going to be okay.” 

“You were right. Per usual.” Adrien joked and laughed. She laughed alongside him, before they hugged. 

“I hope your dad and you work on things…” 

“I hope we can too, Marinette. I think he’s already starting to come around. Thank you.” He said, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. Her cheeks turned a bright shade of red as she smiled. 

“Oh, um… it was nothing, really.” She replied bashfully. “See you tonight for our patrol, right?” 

“Duh. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He grinned at her. 

She kissed his cheek, before she turned to head home. When he closed his front door, it brought an end to this chapter of his life. He couldn’t wait to see what the next chapter would have in store for him.


End file.
